Posts Tagged With: one tree hill

This episode has the first scene that was partially shown to the audience in the opening montage of the season 9 premiere. You will recall that Episode 901 began with Dan and Chris Keller with guns about to go to some sort of confrontation, Haley identifying a corpse in a morgue, etc. Clay’s sleepwalking continues. Since Quinn is understandably worried about Clay’s problem, she installs a tracking app in his phone to be able to find him the next time he goes in to his sleepwalking state. She has become increasingly worried since answering his phone and finding out that he did not pick up his pills from the pharmacist which the doctor had prescribed to help him.

Quinn discovers to her horror that Clay is buying drugs from a shady drug dealer and catches it on camera. She follows him again to find him buying drugs from the same drug dealer at night. She then brazenly decides to go confront the drug dealer on her own nearly getting hurt in the process. Lucky for her, Clay is nearby and intervenes. This scene was very exciting. The drug dealer pulls out a semi-automatic and threatens to kill them both if they cross him again. With this episode we now move into what Mark Schwahn probably meant when he referred to season 9 being in many ways “old-school One Tree Hill” (i.e. similar antagonists and harrowing events to what happened in seasons 1-4). We now have new psycho characters and antagonists entering the lives of the characters in Tree Hill. This drug dealer character is one of the new antagonists kind of like the psycho Derek character from season 4. This scene then leads to the scene of Quinn and Clay fighting about what just happened when they are back at home; the same scene we saw a clip of in the season 9 premier. Clay’s problem is clearly revealed to be much worse now than we have seen in the previous 3 episodes.

Another new antagonist character enters the picture in this episode. Her name is Tara (Chelsea Kane), aka “Not Alex.” She is revealed to be the owner of the new rival cafe across the street from Karen’s Cafe. Chase meets her in an unusual circumstance and is quite taken with her, especially since he is hurt from Alex’s sudden departure to go on tour with her music. But surprise, surprise. Tara is Chris Keller’s girlfriend as Chase finds out when they both arrive at Tric where he bartends and is bar manager (as he frequently has to remind people).

A great scene in this episode is Dan’s confrontation with the drug dealer after he finds out that the guy had a run in with Clay and Quinn. He threatens to kill the guy if he catches him near any of his family again. This is Dan Scott talking so we know that he is not engaging in bravado or hyperbole when he says that. He means it. However, as fans who have been with this show from the beginning know, Dan is not an evil character. He has a dark side but the murder of Keith happened in a moment of rage when there was a gun present and when he believed that Keith set his car dealership on fire. He didn’t pre-meditatively decide to commit murder before. Dan truly loves his family. He can’t be close to them now because of the mistakes he has made but he still is going to look out for them and will go to great lengths to protect them.

This scene is followed by another scene that I really enjoyed. Dan finds Clay on the beach and gives him a second “baptism.” It is humorous in a way because it is a throwback to season 7 when Dan did the same thing to Clay. Quinn watches the whole thing from a distance on the beach. It is a touching scene because we see Dan’s compassion and concern for all of them. He wants them to be safe and he particularly wants to make sure his grandchildren, Jamie and Lydia, are safe.

The episode wraps up with Clay checking into a special hospital for psychiatric disorders and Julian and Brooke reconciling over Julian accidentally leaving the baby in the car. The coda also ends on an ominous note as Nathan does not arrive home. However, Lydia’s stuffed animal toy he was carrying with him is seen in the airport gutter indicating that something bad has befallen him and dark times lie ahead in future episodes.

Nathan left for Europe to scout for athletes on behalf of his agency Fortitude in the last episode of One Tree Hill (902: “In the Room Where You Sleep”). He told Dan to be out of the house by the time he returned. So Dan is around for the time being. Haley is busy running Karen’s Cafe.

Jamie now helps his mother out at Karen

Bad news for Karen

Her chef quit to go work at a new restaurant that has just opened across the street. Chris Keller is unable to fill in as a chef, try though he may. Dan, much to Haley’s surprise, shows up in the kitchen to help her out. Remember, he ran a diner which burned down so he knows how to cook. I really enjoyed how the writer Lenn K. Rosenfeld and director Paul Johansson (who plays Dan Scott) set up Dan’s intro to the scene.

The way Chris Keller screams in this scene is hilarious!

He doesn’t have a scene where he says, “Haley, do you want me to come over to the cafe to help out?” Instead, we see Chris Keller enjoying his food and saying, “compliments to the chef!” Haley then wonders who is cooking since Chris is in the dining room. She walks over and peers through the window to find Dan standing over the grill. That was brilliant. It makes the scene more interesting by adding an element of surprise to it. As I mentioned before, this creates anticipation and interest for the audience, just like the opening montage of the season premiere. I really enjoyed this whole scene with Dan helping out in the diner followed by the confrontation with the patron who wants to know why Haley has a “murderer” working for her.

The crew who designed and decorated Karen’s Cafe have done a wonderful job as well. It’s such a warm atmosphere. It is a mom and pop establishment with tasteful interior design that fits right in with the town of Tree Hill. The floorplan is almost like a 1950s soda fountain with the counter right in the middle of the restaurant. They kept it fresh by not designing it to look exactly like Karen’s Cafe looked in seasons 1-4 of the show (though let me be quick to point out I loved that set as well). I wish there was a Karen’s Cafe to go to in my hometown of Bakersfield, CA. I would eat there several times a week!

"Chuck Scolnik is starving!"

Chuck has found a new role model in Chris Keller.

Brooke and Haley reopened Karen’s Cafe at the end of season 8 and they both operate it together. However, Brooke has not been around the cafe as much lately since she is trying to launch a new clothing line for babies (“Baker Man”) with her father. She loves designing clothing but really wants nothing more than to spend time with her father and have a close relationship with him. Both parents were de facto absentee parents to her for most of her life. She spent her high school years (seasons 1-4) without her parents as they gave her little attention. They all lived under the same roof but seldom saw each other. The parental influence in her life came primarily from Lucas’ mother Karen (Moira Kelly), Karen’s Cafe’s namesake, and Keith Scott (Craig Sheffer). Brooke and her mother,Victoria, have reconciled and grown close in recent years.

Not quite the father and daughter day out together that Brooke (Sophia Bush) was expecting.

Victoria has been warning Brooke that her father can’t be trusted. Brooke wants to reconnect with her father in the same way that she reconnected with her mother. Brooke expects to meet her father at the golf course for a day of golf together and to plan the clothing line. When she arrives, she finds out that he has already played a game of golf with business contacts and instead brings her to meet with them to discuss the business venture; or, to “close the deal” as he puts it. So she feels used and disappointed that they did not get to spend time together that day. Perhaps her father is planning to use her to make money off of her if the business successfully launches and then split and not be heard from again? This nefarious possibility may be Victoria’s concern.

Meanwhile, Clay is still suffering from blackouts and sleepwalking. Quinn has grown increasingly concerned and worried about Clay’s behavior. She follows him to find him purchasing drugs from a shady drug dealer character (who we will probably see causing more trouble later in the season). She confronts him about it and he denies it until she tells him she saw him buying the drugs and took photographs. Clay later tells her that he started taking the drugs to help with the pain after the shooting (recap: they were both shot at the end of season 7 by Sarah’s (Clay’s deceased wife) psycho look-alike). This is a plausible explanation but there seems to be more reasons for the drug use. We, the audience, are left with the impression that the reasons for his drug addiction are more complex. This remains to be seen and we will surely learn more about this in future episodes this season.

Julian is trying to rent out his recently-purchased sound stage (is this set actually an empty sound stage owned by Screen Gem Studios, where many of the interior sets of One Tree Hill are/were located?) in Tree Hill to filmmakers. He mentions the perks of shooting in Tree Hill: a historic downtown, a nearby beach, and a tax incentive; all of which, incidentally, are reasons why so many TV shows and movies have been filmed in the real Tree Hill of Wilmington, NC. He gets so stressed about not being able to find anyone to rent out his sound stage to that he becomes overwhelmed with joy when he finally gets a call from a potential client.

He agrees to meet the producer who will be flying in that afternoon and becomes so preoccupied with excitement over this potential deal that he accidentally leaves his baby, Davis, locked in his car. The weather is warm in Tree Hill in the setting of the story; probably late summer/early fall.

I would like to digress momentarily and point out that it certainly was warm in Wilmington, NC., for at least the first half of the season 9 shoot. The crew began shooting last July (shortly after getting the green light from the CW network for a 9th season) when Wilmington was experiencing a relentless heat wave. Temperatures soared and consistently hovered at the century mark for about a week at one point in the summer. Several cast members tweeted about how hot it was on set. So kudos to the cast and crew for the great work they did amidst such an intense heat wave. But was it as hot as it was when Spielberg and his crew were shooting Raiders of the Lost Ark in Tunisia? 🙂 Of course, Wilmington has very temperate and beautiful weather for much of the year but at this time the whole lower 48 United States were experiencing an unusual heat wave.

He returns in horror to find his car window shattered and EMTs putting his baby into the back of an ambulance. This scene combined with Haley thanking Dan for his help but telling him it is probably not a good idea for him to help out again (“This is Karen’s Cafe.”) and Mouth and Millie’s discussion about her outburst live on TV about Mouth’s (Lee Norris) weight make up the coda for this episode. I really like the song “Tamer Animals” by Other Lives that music supervisor Lindsay Wolfington and show creator/writer Mark Schwahn used for this scene. I don’t know which of them chose the song but she chooses most of the music and each song is given Mark’s stamp of approval. It was definitely an intense cliff hanger scene and the music gives it a great energy and tempo.

One Tree Hillhas really delivered the dramatic goods thus far in the 9th season! Only 2 episodes in and the dramatic tension is as huge as the boulder chasing Dr. Jones in the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark. In the season premier, Chris Keller returned to Tree Hill to oversee Red Bedroom Records for Haley and began producing Alex Duprey’s (Jana Kramer) “What I Love About Your Love.” They got off to a hilarious start with Chris telling Alex point-blank that her song was “crappy.” In reality, he felt her acoustic track just needed to be produced. After laying down the other instrument tracks overnight, he played a produced version of her song for her, much to her surprise. Alex decides to take Chris’ advice and go on tour and consequently leave behind Chase. So for now, Alex Duprey has left Tree Hill and possibly this is Jana Kramer’s exit from the series. We shall find out later this season if her character returns or not.

Jamie is stoked having his grandpa around.

Nathan arrived home to find his father Dan Scott temporarily staying under his roof. Episode 901 ended excitingly with Nathan walking into his daughter Lydia’s room to find Dan holding and cuddling her. Nathan was not happy and long-time fans of the show who have watched this strained father-son relationship unfold over the seasons certainly understand why. It creates an awkward situation for the characters and wonderful dramatic tension for the audience. Jamie (Jackson Brundage) loves having his Grandpa Dan around. Haley and particularly Nathan arent’ thrilled about it. Haley agreed to let Dan stay in their house until Nathan returned home from traveling for his and Clay’s sports agency Fortitude. Now that Nathan is back, he wants Dan out.

Brooke and Julian are enjoying/suffering through the trials and tribulations of early parenthood replete with sleepless nights seemingly without end. However, one morning in the beginning of this episode, instead of the sound of baby cries, they wake up to the sound of…well, nothing! Alarmed, they jump out of bed and storm into the kitchen to find Brooke’s mother Victoria (the wonderful Daphne Zuniga) tending to the twins and making breakfast for everyone. It is a warm familial scene Julian and Brooke stumble upon, one Brooke wryly remarks was wanting in her childhood. Brooke is soon off to meet her father at the golf course for what she believes will be some quality father/daughter time and a discussion of their future business partnership in Baker Man baby clothing.

Clay was supposed to do the traveling the next time around. The plan was for Clay to go to Europe to look for potential athletes. With Clay’s drug addiction and ongoing sleepwalking problem, he is not in any position to be traveling far from home. So once again, Nathan is going to have to leave for an extended period of time. As the episode ends with Nathan driving out of sight, Dan and Jamie are standing on the front porch watching him leave. “I thought you had left,” Jamie says. “Don’t worry Jamie,” Dan replies. “I’m not going anywhere.”

What is Dan up to? He appears to have transformed into a much more caring person from the Dan Scott of earlier seasons, particularly since he murdered Keith in season 3. Is Dan up to something? This episode ends with a close-up on Dan with a knowing look in his eye, as though he knows Nathan is not going to be back any time soon. How does he know that? Has he conveniently arranged for someone to detain Nathan from returning home soon? If so, is it because he really is a nicer guy now but is doing what he feels he has to do in order to be in his grandchildren’s lives? We shall find out soon!

What I particularly enjoyed in this episode were the scenes between Dan, Nathan, Haley, and Jamie in the Scott household. Dan is back this season and I am stoked about that because as I mentioned in my review of episode 901 and my article about An Evening with One Tree Hill in L.A., Dan Scott is one of my favorite characters on One Tree Hill. He always adds a compelling dynamic tension to the drama in each plot that he plays a significant part in. As Mark Schwahn mentioned at the L.A. premiere, we will be seeing a lot of Dan this season. I also enjoyed the scenes between Victoria and Brooke quite a bit. They have been great to watch each episode and it was fascinating watching their characters go from an adversarial relationship to a happy mother/daughter relationship over since season 5. If any of my readers are fans of the show or just want to share their thoughts about this episode or the season thus far, please feel free to comment in the comment section below!

One Tree Hill ended its eighth season on a very happy note. Brooke (Sophia Bush) and Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) re-opened Karen’s Cafe. Nathan and Haley enjoyed the arrival of their new daughter Lydia. Julian (Austin Nichols) and Brooke got married mid-season and had twins in the finale; a welcome surprise and source of joy after anguishing over the possibility that Brooke would not be able to bear children. Chase (Stephen Colletti) and Alex (Jana Kramer) were looking forward to what lay ahead for them as they re-united after being apart for a year. All was basically well in Tree Hill for the core cast of characters. Quinn (Shantel VanSanten) and Clay (Robert Buckley) recovered from their near-fatal gunshot wounds early in season 8, which they received from the psycho Sarah look-alike in the season 7 finale and aside from a car accident off of a bridge in which Brooke and Jamie (Jackson Brundage) nearly drowned, it was a very blissful season for the characters. The season ended with a wonderful shot of Jamie bouncing his basketball across the bridge while wearing a Keith Scott Body Shop sweatshirt just like his Uncle Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) used to do. It was a nostalgic moment for fans, and potentially a perfect ending to the series, especially for those of us who have seen every episode since the pilot.

However, as with real life, these times of bliss are eventually shaken by unforeseen circumstances. Unsavory characters eventually show up to disrupt our reveries. Thus, season 9 begins on a dark note with a brilliant and chilling opening montage of chaotic scenes of non-linear future events; probably toward the end of the season, possibly even the finale. We see Dan Scott and Chris Keller loading semi-automatic handguns in a car on their way to some sort of confrontation, a blood-splattered Chase in the back of a police car, Brooke going on a rampage inside of a restaurant, and Haley identifying a body in a morgue.

But who is under that sheet? What in the world just happened? These questions are racing through our minds as these scenes are thrown in our face and perfectly scored with “The Sun” by The Naked and Famous. I thought it was a perfect opening to the season. It was riveting to watch and it created more active participation for us as the audience. Now we have questions about why all of those scenes happen and we will be looking for the clues as the season progresses. Little by little with each passing episode the pieces of the puzzle will begin to fall in place. Mark Schwahn made a smart choice by opening the new season with non-linear scenes. It heightens the suspense and interest for us as the audience. That montage is already one of my favorite scenes from a One Tree Hill episode. There will definitely be a dark cloud, as it were, hanging over this season as we wait and watch for whatever horrible things are going to happen. We’ve tread this dark path before in past seasons such as with the school shooting episode. But One Tree Hill runs the gamut of emotions and life experiences. There are many light-hearted and hilarious moments to look forward to and even this episode is mostly on the lighter side. There are some funny scenes between Victoria (Daphne Zuniga) and Brooke’s father (Richard Burgi joins the cast this season in this role).

“Well, Well.”

The capstone is the return of Chris Keller (Tyler Hilton) who has the funniest scenes in this episode. Haley hires him via email to oversee Red Bedroom Records, not realizing it is him because of his alias. Their back and forth banter is a blast to watch with many laugh-out-loud moments. Chris Keller’s interactions with Alex (Jana Kramer) are just as funny as he begins work on producing one of her songs.

“What? I can’t hear you over this crappy song!”

I’m really glad Dan Scott (Paul Johansson) will be given more prominence this season. Dan is such a compelling character and we are never completely sure which direction he is moving in. All of the writers have done such a fabulous job writing his scenes over the past seasons and Paul has always executed (well, yes, pun sort of intended…) them perfectly. What a great role for an actor to have. I’m really looking forward to seeing how he will affect the lives of the others in Tree Hill this season. From my own perspective as just one fan, I would like to see him have some sort of reconciliation with Nathan. However, I know from past seasons of this show that whatever Mark Schwahn has decided to do with this character will be satisfying so I look forward to watching how it all plays out.

Dan approaches Haley and asks if he can stay at her home for a couple of days since his diner and home burned down. It will be interesting to find out how that happened.

I’m really glad we were given one more season of One Tree Hill. At the time the season 8 finale was written, there was uncertainty as to whether the show was going to end or get picked up by the CW for another season. For this reason, the season 8 finale has closure and does not have a cliffhanger. It was clearly written as though it were the final episode of the show. However, many of us fans wanted one more season. A couple of months later, phone calls and emails from fans to the CW network (I made a couple myself) paid off and the show was picked up for a shorter and final 9th season. Sure, many of us would have liked a full season with 22 episodes but we can’t always have what we want, now can we? Besides, there is a silver lining to having the show begin mid-season. Sometimes less is more. With only 13 episodes, Mark Schwahn and his fellow writers had to be more concise with each episode. They also knew ahead of time that this was going to be the final season. This no doubt informed every plot and character arc decision they made when they wrote each episode. I’m sure they had some intensive pre-production meetings in the late spring and early summer last year and mapped out the whole season ahead of time. All 13 episodes will probably play out like a long, epic movie.

Please see my previous article about the special event “An Evening with One Tree Hill in LA,” an advance screening of the season 9 premiere and Q&A with Mark Schwahn and the cast at the Arclight theater in Hollywood, which I attended. Just click the “previous post” button below.

(Note: If you are new to One Tree Hill, please go back and watch all of the previous 8 seasons on DVD. You will have a much greater appreciation for the characters when you know all of their backstories. This will greatly enhance your enjoyment since One Tree Hill is a serialized show. You can also subscribe to season 9 in iTunes now.)

There are some wonderful pictures of the season 9 premiere and Q&A on the One Tree Hill Facebook page. Here are a few more that I personally took in addition to the two I posted on Part 1 of this article. All photos in part 1 and part 2 of this post were taken by me.

Everyone in the stand-by line got in to the screening!

One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn outside of the Arclight theatre before the screening.

Last Thursday evening (Jan. 5, 2012), fans of the CW television show One Tree Hill were treated to an advance screening of the premiere episode of season 9 (Episode 901-“Know This, We’ve Noticed”). In attendance were Mark Schwahn, creator of the show and writer and director of the 9th season’s first episode, and most of the core cast members. The event took place at the Arclight Hollywood theater. Most of the audience of fans acquired their tickets through various contests on Facebook and Twitter. There was a standby line for those without tickets. Happily, everyone in standby was admitted to the theater. The audience was even treated to free popcorn and soft drinks. The theater staff waited until everyone was inside and situated before beginning the event. Then, the cast entered and took their seats. In attendance from the cast were Paul Johansson (Dan Scott), Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley), Tyler Hilton (Chris Keller), Sophia Bush (Brooke), Robert Buckley (Clay), Stephen Colletti (Chase), Shantel VanSanten (Quinn), Jackson Brundage (Jamie), and Lee Norris (Mouth). Mark Schwahn gave a few brief introductory remarks and shout outs to executive produce Joe Davola and music supervisor Lindsey Wolfington, also in attendance. If you have enjoyed the music on the show, you can thank Lindsey Wolfington. As music supervisor, she is responsible for most of the tracks you hear in each episode and she does an awesome job. The theater lights dimmed and for the first time, we proceeded to watch a new episode of One Tree Hill on a movie screen instead of a television screen.

As of this writing, the episode has not aired so I will not give away any significant details. (Preview clips may be viewed on the show’s official website.) However, it is a riveting, intense, episode and no one who watches this show will want to miss it. The first 3 minutes of the episode are jaw-dropping. I thought to myself, “What are we in for this season?! How did the characters end up in whatever situation it is that they are in?!” We shall find out in the coming weeks. Of course, the print of the episode looked great too. The Arclight theater takes care to make sure that features are screened in their proper aspect ratio and that the sound is perfect. Once the episode was over, there was thunderous applause. Mark Schwahn and the cast then took their seats in front of the screen and proceeded to answer audience questions and share anecdotes about working on the show for close to an hour and a half.

Dan Scott (Paul Johansson) and Chris Keller (Tyler Hilton) will get a lot of screen time this season. They are in most of the episodes of season 9 according to Mark Schwahn. I’m really happy about this. I like all of the characters on this show but the Dan Scott character is always compelling because I can’t wait to hear what he is going to say or do when he enters a scene. After the Q&A was over and the cast proceeded to leave the theater, Mark Schwahn had a raffle and gave away close to a dozen copies of the recently released DVD boxset of One Tree Hill Season 8. I didn’t win but I already have the season 8 boxset. I had a great time and I want to thank Mark Schwahn and the cast and crew for the inspiring drama they have created each season. Schwahn remarked that this 9th season is his favorite of the show. View photos of the “An Evening with One Tree Hill in L.A.” on One Tree Hill’s Facebook page. I have included a couple of my own photos here on this page and several more in part 2 of this article.